Golden State Warriors head coach Mark Jackson calls a time-out during the second half of their NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets Tuesday, February 13, 2013. In Oakland Calif. Rockets win 116 to 107

Photo: Lance Iversen, The Chronicle

Golden State Warriors head coach Mark Jackson calls a time-out...

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Golden State Warriors' Klay Thompson, left, attempts a steal from San Antonio Spurs' Kawhi Leonard during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, March 20, 2013, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)

With his team losing by 13 points to the Western Conference's best team midway through Wednesday's fourth quarter in San Antonio, Warriors head coach Mark Jackson stood courtside with assurance - hands in his pockets and talking trash with a fan.

Why the confidence?

"Everything wasn't going our way, but we looked like our old selves," Jackson said. "We battled, we fought and we got back into the ball game. ... I'm not looking just at (Wednesday). I'm looking at what's going to win down the road. What's going to be effective and how are we competing?"

The Warriors clawed back to within four points of the Spurs on Wednesday, giving further evidence to Jackson's theory that the grit and guile that defined his squad during its surprising start has returned.

The Warriors have just a one-game lead on seventh-place Houston and sit just 2 1/2 games ahead of the eighth-place Lakers, but they say they're not focused on playoff seeding.

Their mission is to peak entering the postseason and some numbers indicate they might be doing just that. After allowing opponents to score 106.2 points on 39.4 percent three-point shooting from Feb. 5-March 9, the Warriors have yielded just 87.8 points on 27.5 percent three-point shooting over the past six games.

On this three-game roadie - their final multi-game trip of the season - the Warriors held consecutive opponents (Houston and New Orleans) to fewer than 80 points and won back-to-back road games by more than 20 points for the first time in franchise history.

"I can tell you this: We're a lot happier about how we're playing after this trip than we were when we started it," power forward David Lee said. "I think we're playing better ball, especially on the defensive end. We just have to continue to win the games we're supposed to win by going home and taking care of business."

The Warriors close the season with nine of 12 games at Oracle Arena, including a five-game homestand that starts against Washington on Saturday. Seven of the Warriors' remaining opponents are sub-.500 teams, and two of the games are against San Antonio and Oklahoma City, which have already clinched playoff berths and may have little for which to play by the mid-April meetings in Oakland.

"Our goal is not just to make the playoffs, but to compete," point guard Stephen Curry said. "If we make the playoffs and get swept, that's bad. To make the playoffs, make some noise, win some games and see what happens, we're going to have to be playing our best basketball. ...

"It's do-or-die time. We've got 12 games left, so why not raise our games to the next level?"

Old selves

Some stats from the Warriors' past six games compared with stats from their previous 17:

Stat

Past 6

Prev 17

Record

4-2

5-12

Points per game

97.7

99.5

3FG pct

46.8

39.6

Opp PPG

87.8

106.2

Opp 3FG pct

27.5

39.4

TOs per game

13.7

15.9

10

Warriors' magic number to clinch a playoff spot

With 12 games to play, the Warriors are in a six-team race for three Western Conference playoff spots: